Rademos clung to his chest with his right hand feeling as if he had just been hit with a charged up defibrillator. His environment suddenly seemed to expand and he found himself lost in a void. Momentarily, reality faded into oblivion, causing him to be unable to do anything concerning the man he had just sent crashing through the glass window of the coffee shop across the street. He couldn't see anything, not even himself. Also, suddenly, all the things that go bump—or hoot—in the night went quiet. Goosebumps immediately popped up all over Rademos's skin. Adrenaline triggered his body flight or fight response, but there was nothing to fight, and he also didn't know which direction he should run in the darkness, so he froze. His fist curled and he gritted his teeth angrily as he wondered if he'd just been teleported again, though, nothing about the way he felt seemed to suggest he had.
"What the heck? Where am I?" he questioned inwardly.
"Hello," Rademos called into the darkness, but his voice echoed back at him. "Zariel… what now? This isn't funny. I can't see a thing!"
"Astraldon," called out a deep, rough and unsettling voice. The voice seemed to come from afar, yet Rademos felt the presence of its owner within him. It was as if the voice had just erupted from somewhere in his mind.
"Astraldon? Who or what is Astraldon? Where are we? What happened to the lights?" Rademos turned slowly about in one spot looking for the faintest trace of light.
"Astraldon, finally we meet," the voice continued, ignoring all the questions Rademos had thrown.
Rademos chuckled nervously. "Astraldon? You keep saying Astraldon, Astraldon, Astraldon! Who's Astraldon?"
"You are!"
Rademos felt a chill run up and down his spine at the sudden proclaimation of the strange eerie voice. Also he questioned his sanity when he realized the responses were still coming from inside his head. "Stop fucking with me man! I'm not Astraldon. My name is Rademos. And how are you in my head?"
"Ugh, that pathetic name! I'm sick of everyone calling you by that name."
"And just who the fuck are you to say such nonsense?" Rademos surprised himself with his outburst.
"We are one! We are the demon known as Astraldon."
"Demon?" Rademos repeated, sounding surprised. "Is this a joke?"
"Yes, you are a demon! You are an incubus. You are the demon of destruction."
"I- I don't understand," Rademos replied, feeling a deepening sense of confusion.
"In due time, you will!"
"What do you-"
A loud honk caused Rademos to jump to the side as a car waltz past him. It had narrowly missed knocking him down due to his timely reflex. Rademos had been pulled back to reality, and the evil force seemed to have let go of him. He was only a few inches away from where the possession had occurred. Suddenly he remembered the man he had sent crashing through the window and whipped his head in the direction of the coffee shop. He felt nostalgic. The window through which the man had crashed into the store had a large hole with pointy edges surrounding it. Rademos suspected that the man was still inside, so he ran towards the broken window. He put his head through the hole in the window, and with the aid of the faint light that poured into the coffee shop through the nearest street lights, he could see a little. He immediately spotted the obvious things like the table and chairs, coffee maker, and mugs. He twisted his head in different ways searching for the man, but he didn't find him. Suddenly, he heard a low groaning sound, and though he couldn't yet see the man, he knew he was the one making the noise.
Rademos glanced back to see if anyone was watching him, but the street was still deserted. Carefully, he began to wiggle the shards of glass that were still stuck to the window frame. Thankfully, they came loose easily. Once they were all removed, Rademos used his hand to propel himself up to sit on the window's ledge, then he turned himself to face the inside and jumped down. He rushed to where the groaning sounds came from and he got there to find the victim bleeding with bruises all over him. The man pulled out a piece of glass stuck to his right cheek and groaned again. Rademos looked at the ground, seeing about four other pieces of glass that the man had earlier pulled out from himself.
"I'm so sorry," Rademos said, stretching out his hand to help the man up but the man slapped his hand.
"Get away from me you monster!" he sneered.
"I'm trying to help you."
"I don't need your help," replied the man gruffingly.
The injured guy reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out his phone only to sigh devastatingly seeing that it was broken. Rademos wished he could do something about the guy's bleeding, but he didn't even let him offer a hand to help him up.
"I didn't mean to intentionally hurt you Mister. If you'd let me help you, we can be out of here before anyone notices the broken window and raises an alarm."
The man eyed Rademos's outstretched hand skeptically and after a moment's hesitation he took it. He didn't have a choice; he needed help after all. His right ankle had twisted badly when he had crashed through the window and fell. Rademos gently pulled him up and he placed his hand around Rademos's shoulder for support. He hopped on his good foot as they made their way to the window which was their only way out. Rademos first helped him climb out before climbing out himself.
"Where do you live?" Rademos asked, as the man placed his arm around his shoulder again.
"My house is on fifth wheel avenue," he replied.
"Oh, that's quite far and you are bleeding a lot," Rademos said. "Mine's closer, so let me take you home to get your injuries tended to first. I'm very sorry."
Reluctantly and because Rademos sounded compassionate, the man helplessly agreed.
"Stop right there," said an authoritative voice, followed by a gun's click.